Apparatus employed for fastening shoe-uppers by means of wire.



R. P. MCFEELY. APPARATUS EMPLOYED EOE FASTENING SHOE UPPEEs BY MEANS OF WIRE.

, APPLICATION EILEI) AUG. 1, 1907.

%@ Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RONALD F. MCFEELY, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS,. ASSIGNOR 'IO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR FASTENING SHOE-UPPERS BY MEANS OF WIRE.

Specification of Iietters Patent. Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

Application filed August 1, 1907. Serial No. 386,571.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known'that I, RONALD F. MoFEELY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Apparatus Empioyed for Fastening Shoe-Uppers by cans of Wire, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to apparatus for use in holding and dispensing wire and which preferably has provision for preparing the wire for use as it is taken from the apparatus. Apparatus of this type is in use in connection with lasting and other machines in which wire is employed for binding a portion of a shoe upper in overworked position and this invention is intended for similar use.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved device of the class described having provision for manual actuation to retract as well as to project the wire.

One advantage obtained by this invention is that it enables the operator to pay out the wire, as frequently has to be done to get a length for anchoring the shoe, with out necessarily drawing upon the wire, which would bend the wire more or less, and if the Wire is under a strong tension would be liable to injure the hand of the workman.

Another advantage of tlfe presentarrangement is that the wire, which may be taken from the inside of a coil can be returned through the tension device, as is often necessary to do to obtain the right length of strand for beginning the last-ing, without rotating the usual wire coil as has to be done with constructions heretofore employed in which the wire is taken from the outside of the coil and is sometimes wedged between the convolutions of the coil in'retaking the wire so that it does not readily feature of the invention consists in a tension device comprising rollers for gripping the wire, combined with means which is preferably adjustable for retarding the rotation of rollers and means arranged to be actuated by the operator when desired for turning the rollers to pay out or to retake the wire. As shown, one of the tension rollers is provided with a hand wheel acted upon by friction means controlled by a readily movable adjusting device, the wheel being arranged for movement to force the wire forwardly or to retract the wire.

A further feature of the invention conpose are provided with serrations to form a line or preferably a plurality of lines of indentations.

Another feature of this invention relates to a novel'wire casing for holding a coil of wire while the wire is unwound from the inside of the coil. This casing comprises a peripheral support for the coil of wire and guide flanges which when the coil is in place extend inwardly from opposite sides of the coil and are separated by a narrow annular spring through which the wire is drawn out. The flanges form guards which prevent more than one convolution of wire being pulled out at a time thus avoiding tangling of the wire. d

Other features of the invention, including certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will be explained in the following description and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2'2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section through the point of contact of the upper roller with one of the lower rollers. Fig. 4 is a perspective .view of the nurling rollers. Fig. 5 is a detail of the means for adj usting the friction. Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of wire after having held in place by screws 6. The casing and the cover have adjacent annular flanges 3 and 5 which when the cover is in place are separated by a space indicated at 9, approximately midway between the sides of the coil and through which the strand of wire from the coil may readily pass as the wire is unwound. The coil rests with its peripheral face upon the outer wall of the casing and its inner annular face out of con: tact at all times with the flanges 3 and 5 so that an unobstructed space .is maintained through which the unwinding wire may pass without danger of beingbent or kinked. The flanges 3 and 5 form guardsto prevent the inner convolutions of Wire from becoming loosened and tangled with the one being fed. It is found in practice that with this construction of wire casing or reel little or no difiiculty is encountered by reason of the wire tangling in the easing. The cover has notches 7 which, when it has been thrned to place them in alinement with the screw heads, permits the cover to be detached without removing the screws. The" wire from the inside of the coil is led through a central aperture 8 in the cover. The tension mechanism comprises supporting rollers 1010 and a pressure. roller 12. The supporting rollers are journaled in a support let mounted in a re-' cess in the frame 15, as shown in Fig. 2, and are adjustable toward the pressure roller by a screw 16. The support 14 has a slot 17 in its upper face through which the wire is guided. The pressure roller 12 is located I between the supporting rollers and preferably deflects the wire from a straight line, clamping it against the peripheries of both the supporting rollers, the pressure being determined by the adjustment of the screw 16. The pressure roller is secured by screws 19 to a hand wheel 20 and the roller and wheel are both mounted to turn upon a sleeve 22 fastened in the frame by screw 24. A disk 25 is secured to a rod 26 that extends through the sleeve 22 and a spring 28 is 'confined on the other end of therod between the nut and a plate 30. A friction disk 32 of leather or'other appropriate material is interposed between the disk '25 and the hand wheel and the resistance offered by this mechanism 'to the turning movement of the pressure roller and therefore to the passage of the wire between the rollers, is controlled by the-compression of the spring 28. This is varied under control of the op erator by a wedge slide 35 guided between the frame and the plate 30 and having an elongated slot 36 and an inclined face 38. The plate 30 also preferably has a reversely inclined face. The wedge slide is connected to operating means shown as a rod 40 extending to the bell crank 42, which may be joined to a treadle or other operat' on the wire extend obliquely with relation to the length of the wire. Wire thus prepared has not, when used for binding a shoe upper in lasted position, the tendency to ride upon or over the upper material that is sometimes found in the use of the ordi- -nary form of wire. The roller 12 is formed to knurl two sides of the wire, being provided with an angular groove the inclined side walls of which are serrated. The roller may be formed of two disks placed side by side and having beveled and serrated edges. When the serrations become worn the screws 19 may be removed, and the disks may be reversed to put their unused serrated edges together. The rollers 10 are shown as arranged to receive the wire at one side of the middle of their peripheries and when the serrations become worn at this portion the rollers may be reversed to present an unused portion at the opposite of the middle in position to support the wire.

In the use of the apparatus a coil of wire is placed in the shell member of the casing and the inner end of the wire threaded through the central opening in the cover, after which the cover is replaced and turned to locate the notches 7 out of alinement with the screws 6. The end of the wire is then thrust into the slot 17 in the support 14 until it may be gripped by the rollers and fed along by turning the hand wheel. As the wire passes between the rollers 10, 10,

and 12 it is knurled or roughened as shown in the drawings, whereby its holding power is increased. The serrated rollers make a reliable feeding means by which the wire may be. advanced or retracted when the roller 12 is turned by the hand wheel. This is an advantage as it enables the operator to project the wire without necessarily drawing on the wire and also enables him to return the wire without rotating the usual wire coil, as in prior arrangements in which the wire is taken from the outside of lthe coil and when the coil is rotated to retake wire the strand is sometimes wedged between the convolutions on the coil and prevents the ready unwinding of the wire for subsequent use. If the apparatus is used as contemplated in connection with a lasting machine it is usually desirable to pull off suificient wire to anchorand then to hold the wire under firm tension while the shoe is being lasted and the wire put into binding position. The wedge slide 35, connected by the rod 40 and bell crank lever 42 with a treadle, forms convenient means by which the tension may be quickly varied to allow the wire to be drawn easily before anchoring it to the shoe and then held more firmly to bind the upper as the lasting proceeds. I

Having explained the nature of the in vention and described a preferred oon'struc tion embodying it, I claim as new and desire to socure'by Letters vPatent of the United States 1. In an apparatus-of the class described, means for applying tension to a strand of wire, said means being constructed and arranged to knurl the wire as it passes through the tension applying means.

2. In an apparatus for holding and apply-' ing tension to wire, the combination with a support for the wire, of oppositely arranged rollers to engage the Wire, means for guiding the wire, and serrations formed and arranged on the rollers to make three lines of nurling on the wire as it passes between the rollers.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with oppositely arranged rollers to grip a'wire, of means for frictionally retarding the rotation of one of the rollers, and manually controlled means for actuating the rollers.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with oppositely arranged rollers to grip a wire, of yielding means for retarding the rotation of one of the rollers to apply tension to the wire, and manually controlled means for varying the tension.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with oppositely arranged serrated rollers, of means for frictionally retarding the rotation of the rollers, and means for adjusting the friction, said apparatus having provision for manual actuation of the rollers to pay out and retake the wire.

6. In an apparatus for applying tension to a strand of wire, a roller for engaging the wire, a hand wheel connected to the roller, and a friction device for retarding the rotation of the hand wheel, said parts being constructed and arranged to permit movement of the hand wheel to project or retract the wire. I

7. In an apparatus for applying tension to a strand of wire, a serrated roller on one side of the wire, serrated rollers upon the opposite side of the wire and removably supported relatively to the first-named roller to grip the wire, and means for guiding the wire.

8. In an apparatus for applying tension to a'strand of wire, a roller for supporting the wire, and a pressure roller provided with two series of serrations arranged to make two lines of indentations in the wire.

9. In an apparatus for applying tension to a strand of wire, a serrated roller for supporting the wire, and a pressure roller comprising tworeversible disks detachably connected and having beveled serrated edges adapted to form two lines of indentations in the wire.

I 10. In an apparatus for applying tension to a strand of wire, a'wire guide, a pair of wire supporting rollers having serrated peripheries and each reversibly mounted with relation to the guide to support the -wire at one side of its middle portion.

11. In an apparatus of the class described, a wire holder comprising a casing and a cover plate between which a coil of wire may be rested on its peripheral edge, and annular guard plates extending into the coil and separated by a narrow annular space, through which the wire may be unwound from the inside of the coil, and an outlet opening independent of said guard plates. .12. In an apparatus of the class described, a wire holder comprising two plates having annular flanges extending from opposite sides of the holder substantially perpendicular to the side faces of the plates and adapted to enter the central opening in a coil of wire and form an internal support for loose. inner strands of the coil, said plates being relatively formed and arranged to permit the wire to be unwound from the inside of the coil.

13. In an apparatus of the class described, a wire holder comprising two plates having annular flanges adapted to extend from 0pposite sides into a coil of wire and form an internal support for the wire presenting a face which is substantially perpendicular to 

